NEW YORK -- Nelson Figueroa wasn't mad at the Washington Nationals because they beat him, but he was annoyed at them for what he considered childish behavior coming out of their dugout in the third inning.

"They were cheerleading in the dugout, like softball girls," Figueroa said, explaining that with two outs and Austin Kearns batting, someone in the Nationals' dugout started chanting "Let's go Austin!" That really bothered Figueroa.

"I'm a professional," Figueroa said after last night's 10-4 loss. "I think they need to show a little more class and professionalism. They won tonight, but in the long run, they're still what they are."

Figueroa said he didn't know who was doing the chanting "and I don't care." He chalked it up as goofiness brought about by the fact the Nationals are a last-place club, and said he was disappointed the manager or coaches didn't stop it.

The Mets have a choice of whether to pitch Johan Santana or Mike Pelfrey on Thursday or Friday since both pitched Saturday in the doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. Manager Willie Randolph said he isn't likely to pitch Pelfrey tomorrow on three days' rest, so the Mets will call up a minor-leaguer to start tomorrow's game, and then will decide whether Santana or Pelfrey will pitch Thursday.

The Mets would like to keep Santana, their ace, on his regular routine, meaning he would go Thursday. But even Randolph pointed out that an extra day's rest for Santana wouldn't be a negative.

"It won't hurt him to get an extra day," Randolph said. "It's good, actually, if you can do it -- if you choose to do it."

Especially since Santana, battling allergies and armed with less than his best stuff, needed 116 pitches to get through six innings in the Mets' 12-6 win in Game 1 of the doubleheader.

Santana, while proclaiming himself ready and willing to pitch whenever the Mets give him the ball, admitted he wouldn't mind getting an extra day off.

"It's always good to get an extra day," he said.

Asked he would prefer to pitch against the Yankees -- against whom he is 3-0 lifetime, with a 2.66 ERA -- Santana insisted he had no preference.

"That doesn't make any difference to me," Santana said. "I've been there (to Yankee Stadium) before. I don't care, man. As a professional, in baseball, you can't know -- just because on paper it's a weak team that's the team you want to pitch against. You cannot just worry about, in the lineup, the third or fourth hitter. Because the ninth hitter will be the one who changes the whole thing, you know? That's the kind of philosophy that I have. I have to do my job, and regardless of who I'm facing or who the team is."

Luis Castillo, who pulled his left quadriceps running out an RBI triple on Sunday, did not play and said he would need "a day or two." Damion Easley played second and hit his first home run of the season in the second inning. He added an RBI single in the third.

Castillo had an MRI on the leg in the morning, but Randolph said all it showed was a strain.

Reliever Matt Wise went to Port St. Lucie after Sunday's game to get more work and will likely not be activated from the DL until mid-week, according to Randolph.